Facing off in Group B with Canada, Finland, and Norway, The Austrians will be counting on NHL superstar Thomas Vanek to drive the offence in Sochi. It's the first time Austria will play in the Olympics since 2002, meaning Vanek will be representing his country in the world's biggest tournament for the first time. Joining him will be Michael Grabner, his teammate on the New York Islanders.

Austria’s veteran leadership will likely come from Gerhard Unterluggauer, who has played in 239 international games, including Austria’s last Olympics in 1998 and 2002 and in 18 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships (including Division I). Michael Raffl, a rookie with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, has eleven points in 29 games this season.

For Canada, the defending Olympic champions will have 11 players returning to the squad from the team that won gold at the Vancouver 2010 Games.

In what is always one of the most heavily analysed and debated selections ahead of every Olympics, Canada’s roster is almost more about who was left off the roster than who made the cut. Notable omissions from the squad in at forward include Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, James Neal, Joe Thornton, Eric Staal, Martin St. Louis, Logan Couture, and defencemen Dan Boyle and Brent Seabrook.

The Czechs will bring an NHL-heavy roster to Sochi, with 17 players from the league joining the team. Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec was named team captain.

The roster contains a number of veteran players, including 42-year-old ex-NHLer Peter Nedved and 30-year-old Jiri Novotny, both of whom play in the Czech Extraliga, while Jaromir Jagr will play in his fifth Olympics. The 41-year-old forward was on the Czech team that won gold at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and helped the team claim bronze in Turin 2006.

On the heels of the country's World Juniors triumph, Finland has announced its roster for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, along with Slovakia and Latvia. As expected, Finland’s team will feature the NHL goaltending trio of Antti Niemi, Tuukka Rask, and Kari Lehtonen, considered to be among the world’s top netminders.

In all, 16 NHLers will be on the Finnish team, although Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu’s status has been thrown into question after the forward sustained a broken ankle during a game on 4 January against the Washington Capitals. Teemu Selänne will become only the second ice hockey player ever to have participated in six Olympics, joining another Finn with the same attendance record, Raimo Helminen.

Only one NHL player will be featured on Latvia’s 2014 Olympic team: 20-year-old forward Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres. However, the team could benefit from the familiarity between the players of this small hockey nation. Of the 13 KHL players on the Olympic roster, eight are from the club team Dinamo Riga.

Kaspars Daugavins of Genève-Servette HC, who was a key player in the country’s Olympic qualification campaign, will be heading to Sochi. Kristers Gudlevskis of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch will likely get the first shot at the starting goaltender position.

13 members from the Vancouver 2010 team will compete for the country once again in Russia. Norway will be looking to improve upon its tenth-place finish in 2010, in what will be coach Roy Johansen's 13th consecutive campaign with the national team.

Forward Mats Zuccarello is the team's lone NHLer. The diminutive forward has had a breakthrough year for the New York Rangers and is currently on pace for a 60-point season. Patrick Thoresen of SKA Saint Petersburg will likely join Zuccarello on the top line. The forward was second overall in scoring at the 2012 World Championship with 18 points in just eight games.

As for the host Russians, there are few suprises with the roster containing the usual suspects such as Alex Ovechkin, Yevgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk. One of the notable young guns on the team is Valeri Nichushkin of the Dallas Stars. This will be Nichushkin's second trip to Sochi, as the 18-year-old captained Russia at the 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship last April.

The roster features 10 players currently playing in the Kontinental Hockey League in addition to 15 NHLers. Sergei Bobrovski, Semyon Varlamov, and Alexander Yeryomenko form the goaltending trio for the Russians, who will open the tournament on 14 February against Slovakia.

Note: Sergei Soin (replaced by Alexander Syomin) and Denis Kokarev taken out due to injury after the announcement.

Slovakia

Slovakia’s strength will come from its defence, anchored by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins. Martek Marincin, Andrej Meszaros, Andrej Sekera form a strong defensive corps, one that could be further bolstered by New York Islanders D-man Lubomir Visnovsky. While Visnovsky was selected, he has been hampered by the effects of a concussion sustained earlier in the season and has yet to return to the ice.

On offence, the points are expected to come as usual from the two Marians, Gaborik and Hossa, and Michal Handzus of the Chicago Blackhawks. In all, 14 players will be joining the team from the NHL, another 10 from the KHL, including three from Slovak club team Slovan Bratislava, and one, Tomas Marcinko, from the Slovak Extraliga.

Slovenia will feature many of the players who helped the team qualify for its first-ever Olympic tournament. A notable, and unsurprising, addition to the team is NHLer Anze Kopitar, considered the country’s best hockey export and who currently plays for the Los Angeles Kings. Kopitar will be coached by his father Matjaz on the national team, but will not get to play with his brother Gasper, who did not make the Olympic squad.

Sweden will go for gold with a roster that sees six returning players from the squad that won it all in Turin 2006: Henrik Lundqvist, Niklas Kronwall, Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Henrik Zetterberg. Alfredsson will be making his fifth Olympic appearance.

All but one of the players (Jimmie Ericsson) are from the NHL. In addition to the players mentioned above, Jonas Gustavsson, Henrik Tallinder, Johnny Oduya, Nicklas Bäckstrom, Loui Eriksson, and Johan Franzén return from the team that played in Vancouver 2010. Two of the Olympic rookies that could make a big impact will be Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche and Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, both of whom are having excellent seasons with their respective clubs.

On the Swiss side, Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller and Calgary Flames netminder Reto Berra will be the goaltenders going into Sochi. The Swiss defensive corps will be anchored by NHLers Rafael Diaz of the Montreal Canadiens, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Mark Streit from the Philadelphia Flyers and Yannick Weber of the Vancouver Canucks.

All but two Swiss NHLers were nominated. Most of the roster comes from the Swiss National League A. Defenceman Mathias Seger of the ZSC Lions Zurich was named the team’s captain.